We moved back onto Anasazi Girl and stayed four nights at the visitor's berth in the marina while we waited for a good forecast to move the boat to Auckland. This is the view of the Whitianga River from our berth. The river and the numerous coves in this area provide a super protected spot for boaters to tie up.

When Captain Cook came to this area to watch the transit of Mercury and found the river teeming with oysters and shellfish, he quickly named this the "Oyster River".

June 26, 2013

Tormentina's 5th birthday is coming up on July 2nd, so the big topic lately has been birthdays.She made me this beach sculpture as an early birthday present for me.Whitianga, Mercury Bay - NEW ZEALAND. (June 2013)

June 17, 2013

A photo of Laura Dekker sailing Anasazi Girl is featured in the June 2013 issue of LINDA.meiden (Netherlands) / Photo by Somira Sao

We took Edwin Delaat, Laura Dekker, George Brasell, and Daniel Tealmann out for a day sail on A. Girl last summer. I was less than a month away from giving birth and down below watching the charts as the young sailors drove the boat with ease around Waiheke Island. Nice to pass the sailing torch to the next generation.

June 11, 2013

Tormentina and Anasazi Girl are in the current Patagonia, Inc. Spring 2013 catalogs (Japan & USA).

The clothing company is based in Ventura, California and produces incredible technical clothing - including an extensive kids' line. All three of our children have been wearing the gear since they were newborn. It's super durable and incredibly well designed for the rigorous + active lifestyle we have on the land and at sea. It's also the only clothing we carry on our family adventures & ocean passages.

June 9, 2013

How did Cook manage to sort everything out in his head? Wonder how he dealt with stress? His purpose for coming here to measure the Transit of Mercury with Charles Green probably got him well in tune with nature, the universe, and everything he needed to know about navigating this harbour and its river systems.

Dirunal tide. Twice a day, that gives us a two hour window when the Whitianga Harbour is deep enough for Anasazi Girl to be lifted, launched, and moved down river into Mercury Bay's deeper waters.

Darryl Smith, the Whitianaga Marina manager asked us how work was progressing. We told him everything was moving forward with the haul-out. Our biggest stress was that if we had any issues with the boat after the launch, the time pressure to get in and out of the travel-lift slip was really tight, as was the time to get out of the river and secured to a safe mooring.

Darryl told us to relax. The timing was perfect. The marina was already scheduled to re-dredge some of the slipways that had been silted in due to the extreme tides. He said he would make sure the visitor's dock was dredged first, so there would be a deep-water berth that could accommodate Anasazi Girl and any other deep draft vessels.

What a huge relief. This would allow us to carefully check all the systems on the boat before leaving the protected bay.

On Thursday afternoon, after James prepared and painted the under-side of Anasazi Girl's keel bulb, the boat sat in slings overnight at the marina. The next day, Darryl and Graham Murrell (who is in charge of the travel-lift operations & maintenance) showed up at 5:45 am, in the dark, to launch us. A. Girl slipped into the water without a breath of wind or drama.

The kids and I met James at the boat later that morning. We were no longer boatyard rats. We were in the water: E Pier, end-tied, floating once again.

The fresh paint and non-skid on the decks and cockpit felt good on our bare feet. Rough on the delicate clothes and the soon to be crawling baby, but clean, safe, secure. It would keep us firmly attached to the boat in wet conditions.

Tormentina and Raivo were happy to be back in their home space. They took a break from sibling rivalry to get re-acquainted with the boat. They measured their bodies' growth since we had moved off by hanging on the carbon grab bars, sitting up on the water tanks, and crawling through the quarter berths. Their tiny bodies had grown, but they could still slip easily through the escape hatches, in and out of the transom.

I was blown away when they called out to me from the aft compartment to tell me, "Mom! Everything is dry in here. Dad did a good job."

Big relief. We were back in the water. The water was on the outside of the boat. Thanks to the marina for their excellent service and support during our haul-out in Mercury Bay.